Personality is an embodiment of collection of qualities and behaviors. Generally it encompasses physical,mental,emotional, and social characteristics of an individual. Each individual has different personality or persona . Each individual react differently to the same situation and

environment . It is the personality which make him do so . Some are risk takers ,some avoid it at all , some prefer being alone , some need people to survive . These are all personal qualities or more precise to say is “Personality” .

Many a time a question is asked . Is personality a born trait . No , personality isn’t a born trait . The environment and our personal will and strength shapes it . We can easily recall that Mahatma Gandhi was a Shy person untill he was thrown off of a train at Pietermaritzburg in South Africa . That humiliating moment changed him and the rest is history to be proud of . This incident clearly shows that how circumstances and environments can change Personal behaviours . And so we can develop it as well by taking some steps without waiting for the circumstances and environment to prevail . Lets ponder over some questions and try to find out the answers .

What is personality development ?

Personality Development is a regular exercise through which we enhance and groom our hidden capabilities and strengths to bring a positive change in our life and in world as well . It boosts one’s confidence level by widening the scope of knowledge acquired in the process of personality development .There are some integral improvements which combine to form a better personality like the etiquette and manners , speaking abilities , learning new hobbies and skills ,positivity in life etc.

Personality development is not a magic wand which can transform your personality in one day or one month. It requires patience , dedication , time and above all your willingness to change .

Personality development influences all spheres of an individual’s life . Roughly the spheres are as

1. Physical appearance

2. Knowledge

3. Communication skills

4. Etiquette and manners

5. Efficiency

6. Character

Why we need personality development ?

A question many time asked is do all the people need personality development . The honest answer would be ‘yes’ . We can see in our surroundings that many people are very knowledgeable but they are not able to express it properly . They are lacking in communication skills. some are very eloquent in speeches but lack knowledge and depth on subjects . like these examples there may be one or many things which may be lacking in one’s personality .

So one can improve his influence and social stature as well as his knowledge and skills by grooming the different aspects of personality.

Where do we start to improve it ?

The answer is very straightforward and a question itself . What personality do you have now ?

Are you efficient but lack ambition ? are you extrovert but lack communication skills ?

Are you introvert ? etc . Ask these questions and analyze your answer honestly . You might have heard about SWOT analysis . This is a great tool to analyze any problem .

S : strengths - The strengths in your personality

W : Weaknesses - The spheres which you want to improve .

O : Opportunities - The opportunities which are lying ahead

T : Threats - The threats you see to fulfill this , internal or external .

The better way for swot analysis is to sketch a square and divide it into four quadrants and label each quadrant to S,W,O,T . Now write all the traits relevant to your personality in the affecting quadrant . By doing this you will be also doing a mind mapping which will be of very helpful to understand and analyze the problem . Mind mapping is also a very efficient tool which we will discuss in another article . For simplicity just remember your childhood days how you used to learn alphabets A for apple ( Bingo there was a diagram of apple beside A , perfect example of mind mapping )

After knowing the type of your personality , you can start improvising the weaknesses and grooming your strengths and keeping an eye on the opportunities ahead and eliminating the threats .

In the process do remember that there is no shortcut . Its a continuous process You will need to practise these on a daily basis and side by side incorporating the developments in your daily life .